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Leicester – Paintings and sketches by Douglas Smith

A BOOK THAT BREATHES LIFE INTO A CITY

A watercolour book of Leicester front coverA new book by one of Leicester’s leading architects and artists will not only bring delight to all those who know and love Leicester, but also hope to the region’s cancer sufferers, since all profits from sales will go to the charity Hope Against Cancer, formerly known as The Hope Foundation for Cancer Research.

“Leicester – Paintings and sketches by Douglas Smith”, offers a wealth of more than 120 paintings and sketches showing the buildings, gardens and townscape of the city from Roman times to the latest additions of Highcross and Curve and including buildings and landscapes from the University of Leicester and De Montfort University.

The book is infused with the author’s love of his adopted home city, now more than ever aptly named a ‘City of Change’. One of the many highlights of the book is a map showing Leicester as a Roman, a medieval and a modern city. “People said we couldn’t superimpose the three maps,” Douglas Smith said. “It was a challenge, but it works well and shows the scale of the Roman city, which almost dwarfs Highcross. 

“The scale of the modern city has dramatically increased at Highcross and at Orton Square with the new theatre ‘Curve’,” he continued. “The quality of the architecture of these schemes is of national, possibly international importance.

“As we approach the end of the first decade of the third millennium some major developments have been completed and there are fine modern buildings and changed townscapes, as well as 2000 years of history to explore. My book illustrates the exciting city of the present and concludes with thoughts of the city in the future.”

The book is a second, much expanded, edition of the author’s previous book of Leicester sketches (now sold out) and he has been keen to take advantage of modern technology to produce a book of higher quality as well as to retain the creative qualities which led Lord Richard Attenborough to write of the first edition: “Douglas Smith has captured a love of Leicester which reflects its historic past, rejoices in the diversity of its present and heralds its optimism for the future.”

In the foreword to the book, the President of The Hope Foundation, Professor Sir Peter Bell writes of the founder’s wishes back in 2002: “The aim was to raise the profile of the area and by doing so attract the best staff, which would in turn lead to better treatment for local cancer sufferers. This has already happened and with your support for HOPE we will soon break into the ‘premier league’ and be in a position to bid for national cancer research funding.”

You can purchase the book through this website, also for a special price of £15.00 (inc. P&P) or take up the very special offer of this book and the “Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland” book for £25.00 (inc. P&P).

To buy the book, please click here.

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